leonard



0 N LEONARD GDNTINUOUS TABLET FOR PHYSICIANS, 850.

N0. 511,854. Patented Jan. 2, 1894.

iiliiiiiiii- UNITED Spares Parent @rrrcr.

CHARLES N. LEONARD, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

CONTINUOUS TABLET FOR PHYSICIANS, 840.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 511,854, dated January2,1894.

Application filed February 14, 1893- Serial No. 462,283. (No model.)

To [LZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES N. LEONARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Continuous Tabletsfor the Use of Physicians and Others, of which the following is aspecification.

The object of my said invention is to produce a writing tablet uponwhich messages may be left, and provide for their effectual concealmentfrom all persons except the person for Whom they are intended.

It consists of a case containing a roll of paper, and provided with ahinged cover, and mechanism connected to said cover by which the paperis pulled from the roll and advanced overa writing table or surface toan open space within the case of the device, whence it maybe taken andexamined only by a person possessing a key or other means of openingsaid case.

It further consists in certain details of construction and arrangementsof parts whereby the paper is held and controlled, and other advantagessecured, all as will be hereinafter more particularly described andclaimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof,and on which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure1 is a perspective view of one of my improved continuous tablets in use;Fig. 2 a central sectional view of the same when closed, on a largerscale; Fig. 3 a detail view similar to a portion of Fig. 2, but with thecover and the top partly raised; Fig. 3 a similar View with the coverfully raised; Fig. a a top or plan view with the upper portion of thetop removed, showing the paper and mechanism within the case; Fig. 5 adetail sectional view on the dotted line 5 5 in Fig. 3; Fig. 6 a detailsectional view similar to a portion of Fig. 2, but on a larger scale;Fig. '7 a detail sectional view also similar to a portion of Fig. 2, buton a larger scale, and Fig. 8 a view similar to a portion of Fig. 2, ofan alternative construction.

In said drawings the portions marked A represent the case or frame-workwhich incloses the paper and mechanism of my improved continuous tablet;B the paper,

consisting mainly of a roll substantially occupying one end of the box;0 a roller over which the paper passes from the roll to the writingtable or paper support; D sa1d Writing table; E a roller by which, aswill be presently described, the paper is drawn for; ward; F a roller incontact with the roll It which holds the paper closely against saidroll; G a pawl whereby the roll E is held from revolving backward; II adetent act ng directly upon the paper itself; and I aspring by which themachine is operated. I

The case A is of an ordinary construction, and preferably has a slopingtop, which should be hinged at a, and is provided with a catch a, bywhich it is united to said main portion at the other end. Said case alsohas a door A hinged at a and preferably fastened by a look (not shown.)The upper portion has a lid A- which is hinged at a, and extends overabout one half of the upper portion of the case. Said lid is notfastened except on its hinges, and 15 free to be raised or lowered atpleasure. Attacbed to the under side of said lid is an arm A and to saidarm is connected the rack-bar A which engages with a ratchet-Wheel E onthe shaft 6 of the roll E. The teeth of this rack-bar and ratchet-wheelare so formed that when the rack-baris drawn to the front it may slipover (or be raised from) the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, but when it ispushed to the rear it will engage with said ratchet-wheel and revolvethe other parts to which it is attached, as will shortly be more fullydescribed.

The paper B is in the form of a roll mounted on the shaft 1) in hangersB. A friction spring B is secured to the bottom of the box A and bearsagainst the surface of this roll, and thus prevents said roll fromunwinding more rapidly than the direct pull of the mechanism calls for.The paper passes up over the roller 0 and table or support D, thencearound between the roll E and roller F, and thence down into an openspace in the box, as shown most plainly in Fig. 2.

The roller C is simply for the purpose of providing an even and propertravel to the paper, as it is drawn from the roll, irrespective of thesize of said roll. Near it, in the corner of the upper portion of thebox, is an anglepiece 0' which serves as a convenience in insertin g thepaper over said roller to that position where it may be used. If saidcorner were left square, obviously the paper could be inserted only withgreat difiiculty.

The writing table or paper support D is fastened within the upperportion of the'box just below the lid A and is stationary. The paperpasses over its upper surface on its travel from the roll C to theroller, and, when the lid A is raised, forms a table or support for thepaper when it is being written upon. Another shelf or table D serves asa hand support for the writer.

The roller E is mounted upon hangers E extending down from the top ofthe case, and

is the roller over which the paper passes afterbeing written upon, andwhereby the paper is ldrawn forward after the writing of each message.It should be covered with cloth or felt in order to give it a goodfrictional surface. The ratchet-wheel E is secured to its end, and ispreferably integral with the gudgeon or shaft-end e which supports theroller. It is arranged, as shown in Fig. 2, to be driven by the reversemovement of the rack bar A, consequent upon shutting down the lid A Theroller F is simply a clamping roller to hold the paper closely againstthe roller E, and is mounted in spring bearingsf.

The pawl G is mounted upon the lower ends of the same hanger whichcarries one end of the roller E, and its operative end is adapted toengage with the ratchet wheel E, and prevent any reverse movement of theroll E, as will be readily understood.

The rack bar A is of'peculiar construction. As shown in Figs. 2, 3, 3and 5, it is broader than the ratchet wheel E, with which it engages,and has, besides the regular rack teeth which engage with said ratchetWheel, a portion which is merely roughened or provided with very slightteeth or irregularities. A device E similar in form to a detent,isjournaled alongside the ratchet wheel E with its point in contact withthis surface of the rack bar A The weight of this device is capable ofovercoming the force with which the arm A is held into contact in itsforward movement, but is adapted to engage with this surface as soonasthearm starts on its backward movement, and, swinging on itsbearing,it raises said bar so that the teeth thereon will be free ofengagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel E, as shown in Fig. 3.The end of the bar A is formed to project upwardly above its level justwhere the teeth terminate, and when this point is reached said bar willslip over the end of the device E and fall back into engagement with theratchet wheel E, as best illustrated in Fig. 8. By this means the rackbar is only permitted to be in engagement with the ratchet wheel duringits forward or operative movement while the cover A is being closed, andis raised out of such engagement or contact during its backward movementwhile the cover is being raised, and thus all wear upon the rack-bar andratchet wheel, as well as the clatter and noise otherwise incident todrawing the one over the other, is wholly prevented. As shown, thestructure of the hanger E is such thatastop is formed for this device Eso that while it maybe pushed over by the arm A while moving forward, itcannot be drawn beyond a substantially upright position by said armwhile moving backwardly.

The paper detent H is formed of sheet metal with downwardly projectingpoints, as shown in Figs. 2, 4, and 7, and said detent is adapted torest lightly and loosely upon the paper during its forward movement, andduring such movement has no effect thereon. Should, however, an attemptbe made to draw the paperoutwardly by taking hold of it at the pointwhere it is written upon, these points or projections on this detentwould engage wlth said paper and sever it, thus defeating any attempt onthe part of a person not provided with a means of opening the box todiscover the messages which might previously have been written. Withinthe upper portion of the case another sheet metal portion H with sharpor serrated edges projects downwardly, but the office of this is to aidthe owner of the box or tablet to cut or tear off that portion which hadbeen written upon and remove it from the box.

The spring I is fixedly secured at one end to the under side of thewriting table or paper support D, and projects forward and at theother-end engages with the otherwise free end of rack-bar A Its forcekeeps the rack-bar into contact with the ratchet wheel E, and also aidsin the operation of the mechanism, pulling, through said rack-bar,(which in this connection serves as a link,) on the arm A and thus onthe lid A reversely to the power which is required to open said lid.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5,1 may provide upon the under side of thelid or cover A a row of perforating pinsp which will puncture the papereach time said lid or cover is closed, thus providing a more certainmeans for dividing said paper between each of the messages. Suchperforating pins may be any form of perforators desired. Those shown aresimply pins adapted to punch round holes.

In Fig. 8 is illustrated an alternative construction, in which the barextending back from the cover and taking the place of the bar A insteadof being a rack-bar, is provided with a pawl on its extreme end, whichis held into contact with the ratchet wheel by means of a springattached thereto and to the hanger, and a link extending back from thebearing, and causing the same to circle around said bearing, while acoiled spring near the top of the box takes the place and performs thework of the spring I.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a case, a paper roll mounted therein, a writingtable or paper support, a hinged lid, and mechanism operated by themovement of said lid whereby the paper is drawn from said roll over saidpaper support.

2. The combination of a case, paper secured therein, a hinged lid to thecase, a roller over which the paper passes, and mechanism attached tothe lid whereby said roller is operated and the paper thus drawn forwardas the lid is closed, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a case, a lid hinged to said case, a writing tableor support below said lid, a roll of paper supported within the case thefree end whereof passes over said writing table or paper support, and afriction spring in contact with said paper roll whereby it is preventedfrom unwinding too rapidly, substantially as set forth.

4:. The combination of a case, a hinged lid thereon, a paper roll, aroller mechanism for drawing the paper forward, a ratchet wheel formingpart of said mechanism, and a rackbar operated from the lid whereby saidmechanism is operated.

5. The combination of a case, a roll of paper therein, a rollermechanism for drawing said paper forward consisting of a ratchet andpawl device, and a detent whereby a reverse movement is prevented,substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a case, a roll of paper therein, a rollermechanism for drawing the paper forward, consisting of a ratchet wheeland rack-bar, and a device journaled coincidently with the ratchet wheeland in contact with a portion of said rack-bar, and arranged, asdescribed, to raise said rack-bar out of contact with said ratchet wheelduring the reverse movement.

7. The combination of a case, a paper roll, the mechanism for drawingthe paper forward, and the paper detent H positioned to permit the paperto pass freely in its forward movement but to catch and sever the sameif a reverse movement is attempted, substantially as shown anddescribed.

8. The combination of a case, a paper roll, mechanism for drawing thepaper forward, and a paper severing device positioned behind saidmechanism.

9. The combination of the case, the paper roll, the writing table orpaper suppor h roller over which the paper travels from said roll tosaid support, and an angle piece C' whereby the paper is guided toposition while being inserted, substantially as set forth.

10. The combination of a case consisting of two parts hinged togetherand provided with a fastening, a door also in said case, a paper rollwithin said case, and mechanism within said case for drawing the paperforward, and a space therein for depositing the paper after being sodrawn forward, which space is protected from entry except by means ofsaid door, substantially as shown and described.

11. The combination of a case embodying within its structure acontinuous tablet or message sheet, a ratchet mechanism where y saidsheet is moved forward from time to time, and a device journaledalongside the ratchet wheel and adapted to raise the rackbar out ofengagement therewith during its reverse movement, and a stop wherebysaid device is prevented from moving in said reverse movement beyond anupright position, substantially as set forth.

12. The combination of a case, a paper roll mounted therein, a papersupport, a hinged lid or cover, mechanism whereby the paperis drawn fromthe roll over the paper support, and perforating pins or devices securedto the under side of the lid or cover whereby the paper may beperforated each time said lid is closed, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, atIndianapolis, Indiana, this 9th day of December, A. D. 1892.

CHAS. N. LEONARD. [L. s.]

\Vitnesses:

CHESTER BRADFORD, JAMES A. WALSH.

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